Cognitive Labeling View of Emotions

Reflection in areas of life are important to understand feelings, remember times in the past, good and bad, and in order to prepare for the future. Cognitive labeling view of emotions involves interpreting experiences and using the emotions that evolved from each experience. As a head coach reviews the game film from the previous week in order to reflect on the mistakes as well as the success during the game. Using what the coach learned from the game film, he can better prepare his team for the next game, getting rid of mistakes and enhancing the success. If the head coach went from game to game without any preparation it would be difficult to win consistently. In the text, Michelle was able to understand the differences between being startled and being afraid with the coaching of her mother. He mother explain what her reaction meant and why she had it. Instead of being scared Michelle shows how she understood her feelings by saying “Madhi makes my heart beat faster because I love her.” (pg.174) 

Perfectionism

There have been many times in the past that I have been nervous around a corporate boss not sure how my performance would be evaluated. When I worked at Bank of America, my boss would routinely have visitors from corporate sit with me and watch how I performed. The reason my boss did this was because of my work ethic and the results that I produced. The first couple times having corporate evaluate what I was about made me very nervous and put me through something that I had not overcome before, Perfectionism. Once I started telling my self that my boss chose me because of my skills and my hard work, I became less and less nervous making the experience more enjoyable for myself and the corporate staff. With my self-confidence enabling me to get past my own self doubts, I was able to overcome the stress that comes with Perfectionism.

Feeling Rules

“It is better to give than to receive,” is a quote heard during the holidays meaning it is better to give some one a gift than it is to receive a gift. Hochschild describes feeling rules and the importance of them in today’s society. She claims that one way a society attempts to control people is through feeling rules that uphold broad social values and structures (pg174). The slogan “It is better to give than to receive,” is a motivated slogan used to get people to purchase items during the holidays. In addition, it reenforces the altruistic ideology structured into today’s American society. It is acceptable feel to good giving someone a gift and not receive anything other than a “Thank you” in return. However, is it better to give someone else the promotion instead of receiving that promotion yourself? Of course not, if you are qualified to make more money, why would you give that up simply because “It is better to give than to receive.” If we were to continuously try to abide by this altruistic slogan we would have nothing at all for ourselves. Imagine everything that you receive you give away to someone else because it is better to do that. The end result would eventually be death. Feeling rules are very powerful and if not used correctly can be devastating to a society.